Billie Jean King

- Panelist Blurb

Billie Jean King is currently the Director and official spokesperson for WORLD TEAM TENNIS, which has attracted more than 340,000 participants. Billie Jean was ranked number one in the world five times and number one in the U.S. seven times.

The holder of a record 20 Wimbledon titles, she was ranked top in the world for 17 years. Her match with Bobby Riggs holds the record for the most people to ever attend a single tennis match. Billie Jean is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the National Women's Hall of Fame. Billie Jean has devoted her life to creating opportunities in the sport of tennis and has been involved in every aspect of the game as an athlete, promoter, business woman and coach.

Some of Billie Jean's "firsts" include: first woman commissioner in professional sports history (TEAM TENNIS in 1984), first woman to coach a co-ed team in professional sports ( Philadelphia Freedoms, World Team Tennis, 1974), first females athlete in any sport to earn more than $100,000 in a single season of competition ($117,000 in 1971), only woman to win U.S. singles title on four surfaces (grass, clay, carpet and hard courts).

NOTE: Bio is as it appeared in the Forum playbill for "American Women in Focus—Breaking New Ground" on May 20, 1994.